Coating medical devices is an often repeated procedure in contemporary manufacturing. Medical devices may be coated by methods that include spray coating, dip coating and roll coating. During each of these procedures coating is applied to the medical device and is then allowed to dry or cure prior to the medical device being used for an intended purpose.
When the medical device is formed partially or completely out of lattice struts or some other open framework, each of the faces of these struts or framework may be exposed to coating during the coating methods listed above.
In some cases, when the medical device being coated is a stent, all faces of the struts that comprise the stent may be coated when using the coating systems identified above. For example, when dip coating is used, each face of the stent struts will be exposed to the coating and thereby coated. This coating will remain when the stent is removed from the dip and will dry on surfaces of the struts without further intervention. Coating may even remain in the spaces between the struts after the coating has been applied to the workpiece. This phenomenon is sometimes called “webbing.” Here, not only are the individual struts covered, but some or all of the spaces between the struts are spanned by the coating as well.